Interannual variation in spawning of Placopecten magellanicus (Gmelin) may be important to management agencies concerned with maximizing yield-per-recruit via restrictions on meat counts or temporal restrictions on catch and effort. In this study, temporal patterns in the spawning behavior of sea scallops in the Mid-Atlantic resource area for the period April 1987-April 1991 are analyzed using conventional time-series methods. Biannual spawning was found to be characteristic of sea scallops in the Mid-Atlantic resource area but was also found to be erratic in the timing, duration, and magnitude. The spring spawning event was the more predictable and dominant spawning event. The fall spawn was temporally-erratic; it did not occur in 1989. Longer time-series and analyses of environmental factors are recommended to more precisely determine the gametogenic and spawning cycle of sea scallops in the Mid-Atlantic resource area
